Man O' War by Cory McCarthy

An achingly honest and frequently hilarious coming-of-age novel about an Arab American trans swimmer fighting to keep their head above water in a landlocked Midwestern town.

River McIntyre has grown up down the street from Sea Planet, an infamous marine life theme park slowly going out of business in small-town Ohio. When a chance encounter with a happy, healthy queer person on the annual field trip lands River literally in the shark tank, they must admit the truth: they don’t know who they are—only what they’ve been told to be. This sets off a wrenching journey of self-discovery, from internalized homophobia and gender dysphoria, through layers of coming out, affirmation surgery, and true freakin’ love.

Genre

Young Adult

Contemporary

LGBTQ

336 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2022

My Thoughts

This is the best coming of age novel I have read in a long time and it is by far the best book I have ever read about an LGBTQIA+ youth finding there way to their authentic self.

This is an intimate and deeply character-driven story, and the writing is exceptional. It captures River’s cutting but self-protective voice seemlessly. River is both venomous and vulnerable as they learn that life is about explorations, not definitions, and that coming out is not a linear process. This is an intense and often painful read, but McCarthy makes it clear that there is joy and love to be found in moving from the captivity of anger and pain to the liberation of being able to be exactly who you are. I gave this one a solid 5 stars and I am grateful that my son gifted this book to me.